It was billed as a press conference but became a mini-MAGA rally.
So says Maggie Haberman of the New York Times on Donald Trump's morning speech, which was delivered in the gilded lobby of Fifth Avenue's Trump Tower on Friday morning without the 45th president fielding any questions.
Haberman learned that for Trump's camp, that was a good thing.
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"I talked to a number of people around him who are very happy that he didn't take questions because that probably would've led to more problematic areas for him," she said during an appearance on CNN's "The Source." "In their ideal world, he would have just kept it focused on the process, and this is unfair in the mark the parts of his speech where he talked about this is about the Constitution, and they're trying to make this a much bigger fight."
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With the court case behind him and his intention to appeal the conviction verdict, Trump launched a return to the stump with the speech to proclaim his innocence and chastise the trial as “rigged” and vowed to "fight."
And then Trump did what Trump does: he went off on a tangent because, as Haberman said, "he can't help himself."
Trump played the martyr.
“I’m willing to do whatever I have to do to save our country and save our Constitution. I don’t mind,” he said.
Then, he took a shot at Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who will sentence the former president on July 11.
He suggested that Merchan comes across as “nice and soft like an angel” but is “really a devil.”
Trump possibly breached his gag order (which remains intact) when he called out his former fixer and attorney, Michael Cohen, without mentioning his name.
“This was a highly qualified lawyer," said Trump. "Now, I’m not allowed to use his name because of the gag order, but you know he’s a sleazebag. Everybody knows that."
He also wanted to correct the record that Cohen wasn't a fixer by any stretch, saying, "He did work, but he wasn’t a fixer. He was a lawyer. You know they like to use the word fixer. He wasn’t a fixer."
And he even tossed aspersions against the Jan. 6 Committee as U.S. Capitol “thugs.”
“We’re living in a fascist state,” said Trump.
Haberman saw this as ever so Trumpian.
"And so he attacks the judge, and attacks Michael Cohen, and attacks this one and that one, and he says all kinds of other things, and they start talking about the January 6 House investigation — which is never a topic as advisers want him talking about.
"It turned into a mini-rally, and it was filled with grievances, and I think you will see more of that."
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Watch the segment below or at this link.
People close to Trump were glad he didn't take questions at post-verdict event: reporter www.youtube.com
